Super Dictator

Forbidden City, Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Guangxu looked at the contract in front of him, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Once he wrote "Improving" and stamped the imperial seal, the contract would take effect.

When Sun Yuwen, the Minister of Military Aircraft, saw that Guangxu's incident was coming, he began to hesitate again, and repeatedly urged: "Your Majesty, the date given by the Japanese is approaching, your Majesty should hurry up and approve it to avoid another trouble."

Guangxu was still making a final struggle and asked the ministers: "Do you want to wait for a call back from each country?"

It turns out that the Russian minister came to the Prime Minister's Office before and said to the ministers: "The Japanese money can be discussed, please wait."

France also sent a message back saying: "Japanese affairs can be discussed, and our country can protect Taiwan."

The Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded the Liaodong Peninsula to the Japanese, and the Russians were very unhappy. On the day when the contents of the treaty signed by Li Hongzhang were leaked, Russia was the first to attack.

Russian Foreign Minister Robanov told the German and French ministers in Russia: "The Russian government has decided to immediately make a friendly request directly to the Japanese government not to permanently occupy the Chinese mainland. Our plan is that if Japan does not accept In response to this friendly advice, Russia is considering joint military action by the three countries against Japan at sea - cutting off all communications between the Japanese army in mainland China and its own country."

On the same day, German Emperor Wilhelm II ordered an armored ship and a cruiser to sail to the Far East.

At the same time, German Foreign Minister Machal and his Minister to Japan Gottsmid issued a telegram: "Japan's peace treaty now harms the interests of Europe and Germany, although the scope of the latter is still small, and we have to fight. Japan must Give in because there is no hope for the Three Kingdoms struggle.”

France has long coveted Taiwan. Taiwan was not obtained during the Sino-French war. Now the Japanese obtained Taiwan without any effort. France immediately joined the Russian plan and the Three Kingdoms Alliance was formally formed.

On the third day after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Wei Jichen was still on his way back to Tianjin. The ministers of the three countries to Japan went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo, Japan, to deliver the memorandum to the Japanese, hoping that the Japanese would immediately revise the Treaty of Shimonoseki and not permanently occupy China. Native.

The Russian and German ministers also took turns intimidating the Japanese foreign minister Lin Dong who received them.

Russian Minister Shitrovo said: "Japan's permanent occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula may lead to conflicts. I hope your government will take this into consideration and take measures to preserve its reputation."

German Minister Gottsmid said: "Japan must make concessions because there is no hope of starting a war with the three countries."

After hearing what the two said, Director Lin was so frightened that he hurriedly sent a telegram to Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu in Hiroshima.

After receiving the report from Director Lin, Ito decided to hold an imperial meeting in Hiroshima to discuss countermeasures.

Ito proposed three countermeasures at the Imperial Conference: First, categorically reject the advice of Russia, Germany, and France; second, convene an international conference and hand over the Liaodong Peninsula issue to the conference; third, accept the advice of the three countries and return the Liaodong Peninsula to China. .

Mutsu Munemitsu suggested rejecting Mikuni's advice directly.

The then Navy Minister Saigo was frightened half to death. Saigo immediately stood up and said: "According to intelligence, Russia is sending a 29,500-man force to the Far Eastern Border; Vladivostok has been declared a 'war zone', Heilongjiang War preparations are underway along the north coast, and the Japanese in Vladivostok are concentrated in one place, waiting for the order to retreat. However, our navy and army are outside, and the country is empty. If the enemy takes advantage of the situation, I am afraid,"

Yamagata Aritomo also echoed: "Not only is it difficult for the combined fleet of the three countries to cope with it, but it is also uncertain even if it can fight against the Russian fleet alone. Therefore, we cannot lose peace with a third country and establish new enemies at the moment."

In the end, everyone discussed and discussed, and initially decided to make concessions to the three countries, but not to give in to China.

Why make concessions to the three countries? That means agreeing to give up the Liaodong Peninsula. Not making concessions to China means continuing to blackmail a large amount of money.

The Japanese have a very sinister idea, which is to wait for the two countries to exchange contracts and then sign a "Liaonan Treaty", and then they can blackmail money.

After the treaty was renewed, Liaodong belonged to Japan. If the Chinese wanted to get it back, they would have to pay for it. If the treaty was not renewed, the contents of the Treaty of Shimonoseki would be revised. This money would be difficult to obtain. of.

Therefore, while the Japanese hurriedly urged China to renew the contract, they first stabilized the three countries and said that their own country was negotiating.

The envoys of Germany, France, and Russia in Japan were waiting for the Japanese's reply, so they all called the Qing Premier's Yamen to ask Guangxu to wait.

Guangxu asked if he wanted to wait for a call back from various countries. Sun Yuwen became extremely shrewd at this time and vowed: "All countries are absolutely unreliable."

If Wei Jichen were here at this time, he would definitely be thrown away by two people, and he would not learn more skills and study the conflicts between countries. It is a pity that Wei Jichen is hugging his wife beautifully.

If Li Hongzhang were here, he would probably ask Guangxu to wait and see. After all, Li Hongzhang still has two brushes.

It's a pity that the people around Guangxu are all people who disdain to see the world. The only one, Guiziliu, has not been out to work for many years and has not yet understood the intricate relationships between countries.

From this, Guangxu's questions to these people were in vain. These people all urged Guangxu to stamp the matter quickly.

Once this matter is over, the Qing Dynasty will finally be able to restore peace. It will only lose some territory and lose some money. The wool comes from the sheep. Anyway, it will not come from the heads of itself and others. It will not affect the overall situation. Whatever you do is what you do, you have to live your life, it can't affect your nourishing life.

Guangxu was hesitant. He mentioned the ink pen three times, but he still hesitated to put it down.

Seeing this, Prince Gong sighed and said slowly: "The continuous defeats today are not the fault of the emperor, but actually the fault of the soldiers on the front line. What can we do if we don't sign the contract? We, the Qing Dynasty, can only be aware of our shame and be brave, and rectify our military affairs." can get these benefits back.”

Guangxu burst into tears and cried: "I am guilty!"

Then he quickly wrote the word "Qin Zhun" with his pen. After writing, Guangxu seemed to have lost all the strength in his body and fell to the ground, completely devoid of kingly manners.

The next day, Guangxu stamped his imperial seal and wrote an imperial edict, ready to be issued on the day when the contract came into effect. "From now on, I, the emperor and his ministers, must work hard and work hard to eliminate the long-standing shortcomings, and do their best in training troops and raising wages." I have high hopes for my work at home and abroad by studying and seeking, making detailed plans for reform, and verifying everything in due course.

When the ministers heard the news, their expressions varied. Some took it calmly, some considered the benefits to themselves, and some just ignored it.

In Kyoto, Ito Hirobumi was overjoyed when he received the news that Guangxu signed the contract and sent people to Yantai to exchange the contract with his plenipotentiary representative. On the same day, he led a group of cabinet ministers to the palace to meet with Mutsuhito.

"Your Majesty, Wu Tingfang, the representative of the Qing Dynasty, will arrive in Yantai at noon tomorrow. At that time, we can exchange the contract. After the contract is exchanged, Your Majesty can announce the edict, accept the advice of the Three Kingdoms, and give up the permanent occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula." Ito Hirobumi said. Here, a look of shame and irritation.

Mutsuhito nodded slightly, then gritted his teeth and said, "This is the shame of the empire. Russia and other Western powers took the opportunity to blackmail us. The Japanese Empire won the war, but they trampled on the fruits of our victory at will."

"Your Majesty." All the Japanese cabinet ministers were lying on the ground, shouting sadly and angrily.

Mu Ren stood up and swore: "My dear friends, endure the humiliation! Show your shame! Take revenge! One day, the empire will use the sword in your hand to wash away this shame. Please keep it in mind and never forget the national humiliation."

All the Japanese ministers bowed their heads deeply and responded with hatred: "Hai!"